Even though the findings demonstrated that screening reduced deaths, the authors said it was still too soon to introduce population-wide screening.

“Without a reliable test, the introduction of a screening programme could mean an enormous rate of over-diagnosis”

Iain Frame

Lead researcher Professor Fritz Schroder, from Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said: “PSA screening delivers a substantial reduction in prostate cancer deaths, similar or greater than that reported in screening for breast cancer.

“However, over-diagnosis occurs in roughly 40% of cases detected by screening resulting in a high risk of over-treatment and common side-effects such as incontinence and impotence,” he added.

“The time for population-based screening has not arrived,” he said. “Further research is urgently needed on ways to reduce over-diagnosis preferably by avoiding unnecessary biopsy procedures, and reducing the very large number of men who must be screened, biopsied, and treated to help only a few patients.”

Related articles:

The findings, published in The Lancet medical journal, prompted a similar reaction from Prostate Cancer UK.

Dr Iain Frame, the charity’s director of research, said: “Our ability to identify those most at risk of aggressive prostate cancer through a national screening programme is a topic high on most people’s agendas.

“These results are no great surprise and highlight yet again the urgent need for a test which can distinguish between dangerous cancers that could go on to kill and those which may never cause any harm,” he said.

Iain Frame

“Without a reliable test, the introduction of a screening programme could mean an enormous rate of over-diagnosis and therefore over treatment of potentially harmless cancers - outweighing any benefits that a screening programme might bring,” said Dr Frame.

“Getting an accurate diagnostic test that can be delivered relatively cheaply and simply could mean that the UK can start thinking about the introduction of a national screening programme and our research is working towards that,” he added.

“However, in the meantime, men most at risk of prostate cancer − black men, men over 50 and men with a family history of the disease − should speak to their GP about their risk and whether the PSA test is right for them.”